(upper) Illustration of new high-throughput process for making ordered
through-hole membranes out of titania. (lower left) Scanning electron
micrograph of titania through-hole membrane. (lower right) Cross-sectional
scanning electron micrograph of through-hole membrane.
Image: Tokyo
Metropolitan University).
Researchers
from Tokyo Metropolitan University have realized high-throughput production of
thin, ordered through-hole membranes of titanium dioxide. Titania layers were
grown using anodization on mask-etched titanium before being crystallized (RSC
Advances, "Fabrication of ideally ordered TiO2 through-hole membranes by
two-layer anodization").
Applying a
second anodization, they converted part of the layer back to an amorphous
state. The amorphous portion was then selectively dissolved to free the film
while leaving the template intact. This paves the way for industrial production
of ordered titania membranes for photonics.
Titania,
or titanium dioxide, might be the most useful substance you've never heard of.
It is widely used as a pigment, and is the active ingredient in most
sunscreens, with strong UV absorbing properties. It is found as a reflective
layer in mirrors, as well as coatings for self-cleaning, anti-fogging surfaces.
Importantly
for industry, it can accelerate all sorts of chemical reactions in the presence
of light; it is already found in building materials to speed up the breakdown
of harmful pollutants in the air, with work under way to apply it to air
filters, water purifiers and solar cells.
It's the
strong interaction between titania and light that makes it the future material
for a wide range of applications involving photonics, particularly photonic
crystals, ordered arrays of material which can absorb or transmit light
depending on their wavelength.
To make
these "crystals," researchers have come up with ways of creating
porous titania films in the lab, where tiny holes, tens of nanometers across,
are patterned onto thin titanium dioxide layers in ordered arrays. Despite
their promise, however, it is still not possible to produce them at scale, a major
stumbling block for getting them out of the lab and into the latest photonic
tech.
Now, a
team led by Associate Professor Takashi Yanagishita and Prof. Hideki Masuda of
Tokyo Metropolitan University have taken an important step towards developing
an industrial production process.
Previously,
they came up with a method of "stamping" patterns on titanium metal
before growing a layer of titanium dioxide using a method called anodization.
The layers had holes which formed the same pattern as the ones made artificially
on the metal. But because titanium is so hard, the stamps didn't last very
long.
Now,
they've come up with a method that avoids stamps altogether. After they grow a
layer of titania with ordered arrays of holes on an etched titanium template,
they apply heat, changing the amorphous, disordered structure of the titania
into a crystalline form. They then go through a second anodization; a layer
close to the original template surface returns to a disordered state.
Because
disordered and crystalline titania dissolve differently, they are then able to
selectively dissolve away the layer still in contact with the template using
acid, leaving a free layer of titania with the same through hole pattern.
Of the
many advantages of their method, a key benefit is that the template pattern on
the metal is left intact. After the film is removed, the same template can be
reused over and over again. The team also experimented with different spacings,
going down to holes spaced by a mere 100nm.
Importantly,
the protocol is scalable and high-throughput, meaning that it might not be long
before industrial quantities make their way into commercial products. The team
hopes their method will not only bring widespread application a step closer,
but be applied to a wide range of other nanostructured materials with different
functions.